Safety closure for letters



May 14, 1935.

A. scHLzE SAFETY CLOSURE FOR LETTERS Filedqune so, 1932 IGH awwzfmzm ByXM.

fof/vir Patented May 14, 1935 i. y

.UNl'rso s'larss Farrar orties y SAFETY CLOSURE FOR LETTERS y AlbertSchulze, N eustadt-on-the-'llafelcht Czechoslovakia Application June 30,1932, Serial No. 620,139 In Czechoslovakia February 22, 1932 2 Claims.k(Cl. 229-68) The present invention relates to safety closures suchmanner that one folded edge B1 is located for letters. at the openingside. The letter is then closed ln The principal object of the inventionis to prothe ordinary way and thev sealing vmember P is vide means forthe safe closing of letters by which passedthrough the envelope and theletter' at the letters of any kind can be closed with absolute loweredge a., or laterally opposite to the laterally 5 certainty in everyrespect in such manner that a located folded edge B2 as shown at Pi, orin the letter cannot be opened without damage occurcorner formed by thesaid two edges a, d. The ring, whilst any damage which may arise isirclosure nap c is preferably so shaped (see Fig. 4), reparable and theeffect of such damage on the c", that it can likewise be gripped by thesealing letter is perceivable at the first glance. member P. Byconstructing the envelope of suit- 10 A further object of the inventionis to provide able shape it is, however, also possible to grip sealingmeans, by the use of which the parts of all the four iiaps of theenvelope and all the sheets the letter or letter card are closed orfastened to of the letter by means of the sealing member (see oneanother and their envelope or covering at Figs. 7 and 8). Bi and B2denote as before the folded-over corners or sides either individuallyfolded edges of the letter, a, b, c,-ol are the edges 15 or in groups.of the envelope and a', b', c., d are the corre- Some preferred methodsof carrying the insponding flaps of the envelope. vention into practiceare illustrated by way of In the constructional form shown in Fig. 7 theexample in the accompanying drawing in which: sealing is eiected at thecorner and in the con- Fig. 1 shows an unfolded sheet of letter paperstructional form shown in Fig. 8 at the side op- 20 constituting aso-called letter card adapted for posite to the opening of the envelope.The cloemployment without an envelope, sure grips all the parts of theenvelope and of the Fig. 2 shows the aforesaid letter card after itletter when the letter is located so that one folded has been folded,edge B1 is located at the opening side c and the Fig. 3 shows the lettercard after it has been laterally adjacent folded edge B2 is located op-25 closed by adhesive and sealed, posite to the place where the sealingmember is Fig. 4 shows a letter arranged in an ordinary applied.commercial envelope, For letters containing valuable enclosures a Fig. 5iS a ClOSS Section of Fig. 4 taken on the special protective member Elis provided which line V-V, consists of a sheath comprising an upper anda 30 Fig. 6 iS a lOIlgiilidiIlnl SeCiiOll 0f Fig. 4 taken lower wall andhaving adhesive reinforcingstrips on the line VI-V. on the sides throughwhich the sealing member is Fig. 7 shows the arrangement of a letterwithin to pass, the said strips being adapted to prevent an envelope ofa particular fOlm adapted t0 e11- the sealing member from damaging thevaluable able the sealing means to be applied at one corner, enclosures,and being preferably formed by stick- 35 Fig. 8 ShOWS an arrangement ofa letter in an ing the upper and lower walls of the sheath toenvelopewhich is particularly adapted for the gether over a short width at thesides and bottom. application of sealing means on one side, The lettersmay be sealed by means of sealing Fig. 9 shows an arrangement 0f aletter 00nmembers at one or more sides, the strips at the 4o tainingvaluable enclosures Within e protecting sides oftheslieath being grippedby means ofthe 40 sheath, and sealing members. The sealing can, however,also Fig. 10 Shows e Seetlen 0f the Sheath teken 011 be enacted at allsides by the use or a further sealhne X-X of Flg 9 ing member P appliedat the opening side, if in eiilegr taiideiliiirtlegd in Figs. 1 3 isprodoing .this damage to the Valuable enckisure 10- vided over the halfof two adjacent edges b and c cated m the protective Sheath Campemolded' with adhesive naps K1 and K2, is twice folded, The envelopesaccorqmg to lgs' 7 3 and 9 stuck down by means of the adhesive flaps andmay als@ be employed Wlthout bemg gummed to' finally stuck down at oneedge by means of a gether mil/Smm@ as by the employment 0f a' Seal-Closure Strip s, the two, ends of which are sealed lng member 1t 1srendered quite impossible to open 50 by means of a Sealing member P e.an eyelet9 the letter without destroying the envelope or the rivet, orthe like which passes right through. y Settling member respectively.

Fig, 4 illustrates the application of the inven- When envelopes whichare not summed down tion to commercial letters. The singly or douareemployed it is only necessary to fold o-ver the bly folded letter isinserted in the envelope in flaps in the correct order of succession.The lat- 5 eral flaps are first folded over, then the lower flap andiinally the upper ap.

Letters closed in the above described manner according to the inventioncan only be opened after removal of the sealing members, Which lattermay be provided With embossed matter, initials, crests, trade marks orthe like. The letter may be opened by removing or cutting off thesealing members. i

The advantages of the safety closure for vletters according to theinvention will be obvious. The secrecy of the letter and any businessmatter contained therein is ensured as is also the safety of thecontents of letters containing valuable enclosures and registeredletters, so that in the latter cases the enclosures may be of greatervalue than hitherto. Moreover, in the closing of ordinary lettersgreater cleanliness, simplicity and saving of time during the closingoperation are obtained.

I claim:

l. A safety closure for letters, more particularly letters containingvaluable enclosures,'comprising in combination: an envelope having aplurality of end and side iiaps; a separate protecting sheath for thereception of the letter, said sheath beingv removably arranged Withinsaid envelope; reinforcing strips at the sides and'bottom of saidsheath; and sealing means passing through all the iiaps of said envelopeand through said reinforcing strips, whereby said sheath and saidenvelope are fastened together.

2. A safety closure for letters, more particularly letters containingvaluable enclosures, comprising in combination: an envelope having aplurality of end and side flaps; a separate protecting sheath for thereception of the letter, said sheath having a front wall and a back walland being removably arranged within said envelope; reinforcing strips atthe sides and bottom of said sheath formed by sticking the upper andlower Walls of thel sheath together over a short width at the sides andbottom; and sealing means passing through all the flaps of said envelopeand through said reinforcing strips, Whereby said sheath and saidenvelope are fastened together.

" l ALBERT sCHLzE.

